Then a few years later a food distributor across the lot with a bell for its company logo acquired it somehow, and that's where it remained for years, says Phillies director of Marketing Services and Events James Trout.

"I was kind of wondering what happened to it, and just happened to Google an article and talking to some others and learned that it was over at the C. W. Dunnet company and we thought, well, we'd like to bring it back here to the ballpark," Trout explained.

He says in 2017 the company gave the bell back to the Phillies, but the team wasn't sure they wanted it.

"It was sitting outside for pretty much all of that time,” he said. “So it was very weathered, rusted. When we first saw it we all kind of looked at each other, like, 'Is this really worthwhile? Are we going to be able to refurbish it?’”